Screen door



June 28, 13. e. SCHLATT 9 9 SCREEN DOOR Filed March 18, less- Patented .iune 28, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in doors, and more particularly to screen doors and the like which require braces or stays.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: To provide an improved stay or brace of neat and effective character for doors; to enable an advertising card or plate or the like to be attached to the braces; to locate the card or plate or the like at a con- Venient elevation upon the door; to maintain the card in parallel relation to the door, out of contact with the foraminous or other panel body; to enable the card or plate or the like to be applied after installation of the stay or brace to the door; to enable new cards or plates or the like to be substituted when desired; to be enabled to tighten or pull-up on the braces or stays dependent on Warping condition of the door; to secure simplicity of construction and operation; and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

In the, drawing:

Figure l is a face view of a screen door embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a face view on somewhat larger scale of a portion of the door;

Figure 3 is a sectional view shown as taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a face view of the mid-section of the 30 braces with an advertising plate attached thereto in slightly different manner from the attachment of the plate in Figures 1 and 2; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view shown as taken on line 55 of Figure 4.

Description As seen in the drawing, the reference numeral i0 designates a door in general, here shown as a screen door, that is to say, having a foraminous panel body ll secured to an otherwise open frame consisting of uprights or stiles l2, l2 and cross-members i3, I3 at top and bottom and a cross member I4 intermediate of the top and bottom members and parallel thereto. The structure of door thus far described is conventional, and is intended only as illustrative of screen doors in general, the specific construction of which may be widely varied from the particular one here shown without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

The difiiculty encountered with screen doors in particular is the tendency the same have to sag at their edge furthest from the hinge mounting thereof. This usually prevails from constant opening and shutting of the doors, and from other causes. The present invention contemplates the provision of bracing means for such doors. As here shown, diagonal and crossed braces l5, l5 are provided which are preferably attached at the upper end portions of the uprights or stiles i2, i2, and at their lower ends are attached respectively to the other stile at a lower down position, for instance at about the cross member M. The construction described therefore obtains a crossing of the braces substantially in the middle of the upper panel of the door.

Said braces i5, i5 are shown substantially identical in construction, which lends itself both to economical manufacture and ease of installation. Description of one will therefore suiflce as description of both. Said brace i5 comprises a bar it substantially the diagonal dimension of the panel, said bar being shown of strap metal with its opposite ends turned outwardly in the same general direction to provide end flanges I I, l! at right angles to the plane of the bar. Each flange is perforated substantially at its middle for receiving a securing means such as a bolt 18 which will project through the flange and away from the bar in the same general direction of the bar.

A bracket i9 is provided for attachment to the door and for receiving the said bolt i 8, said bracket being shown as also of strap material bent or otherwise formed to provide one flange 20 adapted to be placed flatwise against the door stile l2 and be secured thereto as by screws 2!. Placing of the flange 20 upon the door is done in a manner to direct the flange diagonally and in alinement with the bar It. At the end of flange 20 toward said bar it, is a flange 2i normal to the secured flange 20 and substantially parallel to the end flange ll of the bar. This flange 2| of the bracket is also perforated to receive the aforementioned bolt l8 thereth'rough. A wing-nut 22 or other suitable means will retain the bolt in place and the bracket and bar assembled. It will be understood that bracket i9 is provided at each end of the bar, and when those bars are attached to the door, tension may be applied by screwing either or both of the wingnuts or other suitable means further home upon their respective bolts. The brace is therefore adjustable for application to various kinds and sizes of doors, particularly those having a warping tendency, thereby obtaining and for maintaining the desired bracing tension.

It is an important feature of the present invention to provide means for applying an advertising or other card (of metal, paper, cardboard, or other suitable material) to the braces, and therefore at the face of the door. To carry out this feature of the invention, I have shown purpose may be bent toward each other.

tabs 23 struck up from the bars 55 at even distances from the ends thereof with the tabs preferably projecting in the same general direction as the end flanges of the bar. There are at least two such tabs provided as the end flanges of the bar. There are at least two such tabs provided on each bar and at appropriate distance from each other to receive diagonally opposite portions of a card or plate 26. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the card or plate, indicated as of advertising nature, has its corners diagonally clipped and inserted under the said tabs 23, which, for that The card or plate is thus very easily applied and adequately retained and occupies a position which is very conspicuous to persons entering through the door.

' It is not to be understood that the invention is limited to the retention of the card by engagement of the tabs at the outer edges of the card or plate, as other means may readily be employed to retain the said card or plate to the bars "5. As shown in Figures 4 and 5 one other such means may be by inserting the tabs 23 through slots 25 in a card or plate 26, and after insertion of the tabs they may be bent over upon the face of the card or plate. In such an assembly, it is preferable that the bending of the tabs shall be toward the outer edge of the card or plate next adjacent the tab, both for interfering the least amount with full exposure of the face of the card or plate and for the purpose of increased rigidity of both the card or plate and the braces.

I claim:

1. A brace for doors and the like comprising a plurality of diagonally crossed bars having flanged ends at, their outer extremities, a pair of flanged brackets one for each end of said bars and adjacent the said flanged ends, and adjusting means securing the said brackets to the respective flanged ends of the bars.

2. In combination with a door having a display sign centrally a part thereof, a plurality of diagonally crossed bars having flanged ends at their outer extremities and means adjacent their crossing part for retaining said display sign with respect to the door, a pair of flanged brackets one for each end of said bars adjacent said flanged ends, and adjustable means securing the said brackets to the respective flanged ends of the bars.

GEORGE SCHLATT. 

